Travel - Life In Balance | Writing and 1:1 Coaching

5 Ways Travel is Good for Your Mental Health

by Patrick Bailey | Nov 20, 2020 | Lifestyle, Travel

It is common for many people to easily get burned out considering how fast-paced life has become. You add to this the responsibilities that need to be attended to, other’s expectations of you, and your personal hopes for yourself and you will surely be overwhelmed.

The stress of dealing with so many things with a seemingly limited period often times push people to the edge. Others who were so emotionally and psychologically strained ended up taking their lives. This is why taking a break and traveling is highly recommended.

Temporarily pulling yourself out of your usual schedule and going to other places pose many benefits. Here are the 5 ways why traveling will do wonders for you.

It is a Means of Rediscovering Oneself

Do you wonder how your life has become so predictable and boring? Do you feel like there is nothing to be excited about in your life? Has the situation become so hopeless? If you answered in the positive to these questions, then something needs to be addressed soon. A way to do that is by traveling.

Going to another place will help you rediscover who you are. Many testified about how they have found their passions during a trip. Traveling widens your horizons in ways you cannot imagine. Getting acquainted with the different cultures and various customs broadens your perspective on so many things.

It Increases Happiness Level

Stepping away from your daily grind is a way of rewiring your brain. This will help boost self-confidence and mood. Living new experiences allows individuals to lay low and shed off the feeling of being trapped in their problems and responsibilities.

Being able to visit places gives a sense of liberation that is exhilarating. This does not only happen during the trip. The thrill starts with the planning and all the way until a few weeks after the travel when one reminisces about the experience.

It Increases Creativity and Improves Productivity

There is so much inspiration in the places you visit. Being able to immerse yourself in how people do things in their own unique way tickles certain brain functions that enhance imagination.

Also, being able to travel offers a chance for people to improve their productivity. As traveling offers the opportunity to sleep, relax and let loose, these have a positive effect on the cognitive processes.

It Makes You Flexible

Going on trips is not just about the excitement of planning and looking forward to doing something new. It is also about being flexible and resilient to whatever comes your way. Not everything about how you envisioned about the travel will happen exactly as how you want things to be. There will be instances when you have to come up with another plan to be responsive to the situation.

Having to face adversities in an unfamiliar territory lets you think outside of the box and to give up control on the things you can do nothing about. It teaches patience and to deal with bigger and more important issues than the seemingly menial ones you would normally fuss over.

It Combats Stress

Overall, traveling combats stress. Going to work and dealing with all the responsibilities tend to distract people from appreciating things that really matter and worry about even the smallest things. So, taking a break from all the hustle and bustle is necessary for you to just relax, rejuvenate and recharge.

Being away from anxiety-causing situations lower your cortisol levels. This will make you more content, calm, and at peace. Just imagine the same kind of zen that dual diagnosis treatment centers offer.

This is even backed by a study showing a significant drop in stress levels a mere two days after going on a trip.

So, are you ready to pack your bags now?

Author Bio: Patrick Bailey is a professional writer mainly in the fields of mental health, addiction, and living in recovery. He attempts to stay on top of the latest news in the addiction and the mental health world and enjoy writing about these topics to break the stigma associated with them.

The Contrast Between Humble Bali, Indonesia and Consumerist America

by Liz B | Jan 10, 2017 | Travel

Last year (2016) just before Christmas I was fortunate enough to take a trip to Bali, Indonesia. I’ve been a fair number of places in my life (Mexico, Spain, France, Jamaica, etc) and I’m extraordinarily open-minded so I really didn’t expect for any new culture to shock me. But once I got there, oh my, it felt like a completely different world from anything I had experienced before.

So once I got to my villa, I kindof wanted to just hide there and get over the jet lag. I was by myself after all, and that can make braving a new world certainly more daunting than if you have someone with you. Finally though I pushed myself out and wandered through the streets of Denpasar, the capital city of Bali.

After an hour or so of doing this, I began to feel completely at home. There was a docile energy in Indonesia…so much more laid-back, but not even just that…docile is the best way I can explain it. In my home in Arizona, I never walk around alone at night, and even just walking around at any time of the day, the energy doesn’t feel docile. It feels unpredictable…and sometimes uptight even. You wouldn’t put it past you for something crazy to happen at any moment, and there is a rush here in America that you don’t feel in Indonesia.

Anyhow, Indonesia very quickly settled into my heart and felt like home. After a number of weeks there, I had a sense of peace and stillness in my being, and it had little to do with being on vacation or being in a tropical setting (I was still working part of the time I was there anyway). Because Indonesia is still very much in development, people lead very simple lives, and I also am more interested in getting to know the locals and spending time as they would rather than do the typical touristy stuff.

People in Indonesia don’t have a lot; the houses are simple, and their lives are not about consuming. The lifestyle/environment there does not allow for money to become a part of their identities. People aren’t at each others’ throats with the fire of ambition, striving to be better than the next person. They have little materialistically, but they have each other, and it is clear that the majority of them are very content.

So many of them that I met were just fantastic people too, and so genuine, perhaps because they don’t have as much darkness in their hearts.

When I got back to the U.S., I never in a million years anticipated I would have to readjust to my own country, but I did. The minute I ended up coming back into the country and just observing people, I literally felt sick. Because when you experience the contrast between these two cultures in a short period of time, you really feel the difference. It felt like people’s attachment to everything about their way of life just creates this big wall of…pretentiousness I suppose, or falseness, that becomes invisible when you live here.

I felt so at home and at peace in the place where that barrier or pretentiousness wasn’t there. And I’m not even talking about people walking around with Louis Vuitton bags… but rather just the average American, used to their consumerist lives of having way more than what they need.

I posted photos from my trip here for any of those who might be interested in getting a peak at what it’s like: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lizlauren/albums